(The Center Square) – According to a poll completed by Noble Predictive Insights, most Arizonans correctly assume tourism is the state’s most significant source of income.
Noble Predictive Insights determined the majority of voters, 35%, first correctly guessed that tourism was Arizona’s largest industry. As many as 55% of voters 55 and older believed tourism was the most lucrative.
Voters, while correct about tourism, tended to overestimate the impact of income tax on state revenue. A plurality of Hispanic voters and those between 18 and 54 believed that income tax was the state’s largest revenue stream. In reality, $10.6 billion in income tax was collected in 2022 versus $129 billion through tourism.
“This is a fairly innocent example of how voters can be somewhat disconnected from data,” the report reads. “Opinions and perceptions don’t always line up with the facts, but that’s what makes public opinion polling so interesting and important – finding those gaps and leveraging accurate data and insights to close them.”
The industry brought in $129 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism. Retail contributed to the majority of sales, at $101 billion. Restaurants and bars followed at $20 billion in revenue.
Year to date, Arizona garnered an 8.4% increase in tax revenue from tourism, a 15.6% increase in airport traffic and a 15.7% increase in lodging sales.
The Arizona Public Opinion Pulse study surveyed 1,000 Arizonans online over the course of a week, with a 3.1% margin of error. 60% of voters lived within Maricopa County, and 15% came from Pima County. Thirty-five percent identified as Republican, 31% as Democratic, and 34% as Independent.
Noble Predictive Insights is a nonpartisan market research and polling firm based in Phoenix, Arizona.
